Three US soldiers and two Iraqi civilians were killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq today.
The three soldiers' deaths, which brought the number of American soldiers killed since the US-led invasion in 2003 to 3,996, came just days after President George W. Bush said the United States was on track to victory in Iraq.
The US military said the three soldiers were killed when a roadside bomb blew up their vehicle northwest of Baghdad. Two Iraqi civilians also died in the attack. It gave no further details about where the incident occurred.
Roadside bombs are the biggest killers of US soldiers in Iraq.
On Friday, a US soldier died from wounds sustained from "indirect fire", a term commonly used by the military to refer to a mortar or rocket attack.
In a speech marking the fifth anniversary of the war, Mr Bush acknowledged the "high cost in lives and treasure" but said a US troop build-up in Iraq had reduced violence there and opened the door to a major victory in the war on terror.
The war is a major issue in the US presidential campaign, with Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton calling for an early troop withdrawal timetable.
Presumptive Republican candidate John McCain rejects this.